


Her Orion

by squiggly_squid



Category: Mass Effect, Mass Effect Trilogy
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-02-13
Updated: 2017-05-02
Packaged: 2018-09-24 03:24:50
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 7,134
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9697505
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/squiggly_squid/pseuds/squiggly_squid
Summary: Artemis has developed a crush for her favorite turian mechanic.  Only thing is, he has a way of making her completely at a loss for words.  It doesn't seem to bother him all that much, though, and he seems more than willing to pick up where she falls short.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * For [hoxadrine](https://archiveofourown.org/users/hoxadrine/gifts).



Artemis finds him where he seems to always be, half buried under her favorite shuttle’s body. She’d never be able to tell her bosses that, whenever she has the choice, there is a single all-terrain transport she will take without question. Something about it just suits her, whether it be the soothing hum only its engine seems to emit as it climbs the snow banks or how it handles in her hands, even on the days it feels particularly ornery.

  
It’s because of her tendency to choose the shuttle she’s taken to calling Charlie - for whatever crazy reason even she doesn’t entirely know - that many of the other pilots have taken some sort of silent oath to pass it by when taking travellers up and down the mountain paths. Admittedly, she appreciates the gesture, but she can’t help feel a bit guilty that they’ve taken the nuisance upon themselves. It’s not like every shuttle is for easy grabs during the storm season when every trip up out of the bay results in a vehicle needing urgent maintenance as soon as it touches back down in Port Hanshan.

  
There’s also another reason why she appreciates Charlie and the chances she gets to drive him hard and that’s the owner of the two legs peeking from under its underbelly. Charlie’s strange way of handling means that most of the mechanics either refuse to work on it, or take longer to repair its minor dents and loose screws than if they were working on another vehicle in the garage.

  
No, the only one able to repair Charlie in the time before he’s needed is the lead mechanic himself, Lilihierax Zerius. The way the man works is like magic and he often gets any shuttle he gets his hands on both done before it’s even needed - which is quite the challenge for the garage staff during the busiest of days when there are more passengers coming from the labs than the transport team can seem to handle - and working in a way that just may be better than factory condition. If she had the power to make that kind of decision for herself, she’d request Li to work on her Charlie every single time.

  
It also doesn’t hurt to be able to watch the handsome turian work, even if she’s _technically_ off the clock and off-duty today. Hopefully, by the time she gets to him, she’ll have a good reason to be down her besides her true goal. It’s a bit too soon for her to have the nerve. She still feels like she needs to gauge the situation before she gives voice to her desire to spend some time out of work with the man whose jokes leave her flushed and breathless from laughing and whose refreshing - for Noveria - attitude warms her better than the Port’s circulating heat.

  
“Hey,” she says as she leans her back against the side of Charlie’s front panel and crosses her arms. “Sleeping on the job again, Li?”

  
His infectious chuckle rasps from under the massive vehicle and she can’t help giving him a smile when he grabs the foot bar to pull himself out. “Hey, Artemis. What can I do for you?” he asks in that unique accent she’s never heard from a turian before. Not that she knows too many to begin with thanks to her limited space travel. “Aren’t you supposed to be off today?”  
Artemis’ blinks and looks aside to quickly think of something, her mind failing her. She moves to think on the spot and deny it before letting words spill out of her because _how hard can it be to lie? I’ve done it millions of times._

  
Instead, she blurts out, “Would you like to come to my place?” Dammit, she thinks at her traitorous brain. There is no way in hell she can bring him back to her place. More laundry lives out of her wardrobe and closet than within, datapads are strewn on every available surface, her bed looks like a group of krogan had a wrestling match in it, and she desperately needs to buy groceries instead of continuously ordering take out, delivery, or any other precooked food.

  
She winces inwardly and nearly misses his raised brow plate. “Uh… I mean, if you want,” she corrects. “We can always go to the bar. Not the fancy one, but the one further down the Port?”

  
His chuckle is warm and pulls a relieved smile from her lips, assuring her that she hasn’t completely screwed this up. “That’d sound like quite the night. You sure?” Rumbling at her nod, he looks around the garage before back to her, flaring his mandibles. “Yeah. Alright. Let me just finish up replacing the axle’s last support.”

  
“I have no idea what that means, but sure” His smile doesn’t leave until he disappears beneath the shuttle once more. It’s then that she releases a light breath of relief, silently scolding herself for being so foolish. How she damns her few and far between relationships and, even more, the fact that this may be the first time she’s made a move on, well, _anyone_.

  
Something within her feels that this is just worth it, though. If there’s anything she wants more, it’s for her nerves to calm so she can actually enjoy tonight. What she’s doing is so much more than the chats in the garage while they wait for people needing transport of when they share the occasional lunch break. Hell, she’s even started noticing how one or the other will bring in coffee for the two of them and that scuttlebutt in the garage and shuttle team has started to concern the two of them in situations she wishes were true.

_  
One step at a time, Artemis._

  
Her traipsing through her frantic thoughts must take more time than she expected because, in a snap, Lilihierax is up and wiping his hands off with a red cloth stained lightly with grease and lubricant. He smiles with a happy thrum before looking back at Charlie and patting its hull. “She’s all ready for your next trip.”

  
“Thank you,” Artemis says and lays her hand on the hull suspiciously close to his and swears she can feel his heat across the minute distance.

  
Without noticing any discrepancy in their conversation, Li remove his hand and motions the large garage exit. “You wanna wait for me to wash up? Just gotta change out of these.” He waves a hand down to his grimy coveralls and she nods, chuckling.

  
“Won’t do to go out in that,” she agrees and walks beside him up until the men’s worker locker room, choosing to wait at the doors leading into the Hanshan metro hub.

  
When he comes out, he’s wearing a flattering shade of red with light olive flowing along the underside of the curve of his cowl and down the center of his chest, then down the side of each pant leg. It isn’t one of those tight suits she’s seen the businessmen wearing, but a relaxed, loose fitting set that he looks so at home in. Hell, even the coveralls look good on him, make him truly look like a man used to working for a living and she respects and loves that.

  
_Wait_ … She shakes that away with a surprised look and clears her throat as he approaches.

  
“You okay?” he asks as he steps closer to here, tilting his head to look at her face better. “You need some water?”

  
“Oh, no. I’m okay,” she clears her throat softly in effort to look convincing. “Must have got something in my throat. I’m good, now.”

  
Smiling, he rumbles and she feels the heat of his hand on her back for a fraction of a moment as they turn towards the metro entrance. Surely she didn’t feel that, so she ignores the rush of happiness it brings and tries to start up a conversation they can continue at the bar. Something that, she hopes, will ease him into the thought of spending some more time with her when it’s just the two of them together and without the watching eyes of scuttlebutt’s minions.

  
“So, how’s the garage been?” _That_ _was_ _bad_ , _Artemis_.

  
“It’s been good. A bit slow with it being the middle of the week, though.” He huffs a laugh and looks to her. “You know how it is. No one wants to be around until everyone wants to go somewhere _right_ _now_ ,” he says, mimicking a stern, commanding voice they often get from the transport company bosses, even if they’re more a nuisance than actual superior to him.

  
She chuckles at his imitation, slightly off with his accent, but it’s enough to lighten her mood. “That just makes it worse because it seems to never end.” Shaking her head as they step up into the metro car, she sits down and smiles when, instead of taking the seat across from her, sits beside her. To hide her blush, she looks at the closing doors. “Oh! You were watching that new crime show, what was it called?”

  
His mandible flares in a half smile as he hums in curiosity. “You mean Corrupt Boston?” He smiles wider at her nod and starts into one of his overjoyed, descriptive retellings. “The latest episode has to be the best, yet, Artemis. You want me to tell you? Yeah? Alright, so it started with finding this woman on the docks…”

  
By the time they make it to the lower section of Port Hanshan where most of the actual workers - not the businessmen and women who like to play pretend and, as Li puts it, drink their fancy water - of the Port live. There is a really popular bar here, one that caters to visitors looking for a drink, someone to share it with, and maybe catch whatever current game is playing across the galaxy. Compared to most places - which are few - that Artemis has been, it’s mostly quiet and cozy during these still hours during most Port shifts.

  
They find a small table in the corner and, shockingly, Lilihierax holds the chair out for her, helping her push under the table. The gesture stuns her to silence and she doesn’t know how to actually react. Does he understand the gesture? Did he do it because she’s just a friend, a woman, or because of something else? Is it just the result of him watching too many movies and television shows mostly made by humans or with a human-oriented direction?

  
She doesn’t notice when he stands on the opposite end and says something. Looking up in confusion, she sees his mouth plates - _god, I wish I could run my fingers over the cracks in his plates… maybe my lips too_ \- moving, so she forces herself to shut up her thoughts and listen.

  
“What would you like to drink?” he asks with a knowing flicker of his mandibles and rumble that’s almost sounds like a vocal version of a chuckle.

  
“Oh, uh. Rum and soda, please.” She shifts to retrieve her chit from her pocket, but Li waves it off.

  
“I got it.”

  
“You sure?” He nods with a smile and heads to the bar, thankfully unable to see her flabbergasted blush. _Does he really know what this outing was supposed to be?_ When he returns with her drink and a light red one of his own, she tests a theory and lets her finger brush his gloved one. They touch for just a moment too long, but he doesn’t withdraw until it seems time stands still.

  
When he finally lets go and sits, Artemis is sure she bright red and burning up from her flush. Up in her apartment, she had it all figured out. She’d waltz into the garage, pretend like it was any normal day, chat a while before asking him over, share some movies and dinner, and then follow his lead. Here, right now, everything was turning on its head. He seemed to actually _know_ what she had wanted to accomplish and is sweeping her off her feet before she can even figure out what he’s doing. 

  
“Uh, so… Work…” she grasps, trying to reclaim control. It was going so well listening to him in the metro and talking during work, but now she’s absolutely lost. What is she to say? ‘Hey, I know we’re different species and all that, but I really, really, like you. Hell, I adore you. Do you want to maybe make something out of us?’ “Yeah… How’s work?”

  
“Artemis?” he says with a warm purr, reaching across to cover her hand that, until him pulling her attention to it, has been fidgeting with and spinning her glass. “You already asked that,” he says with a chuckle. “How about we talk about something else? Why don’t you tell me about growing up on Earth?”

  
The ease of his conversation soothes her nerves, but more than anything is the touch of his hand that still lays against her own. She can swear he knows what he’s doing and, in a way, it actually makes it easier to open up to him. Biting her lip, she turns her hand in his and, immediately, he moves to lay their hands together, fingers cupping the other’s.

  
Their conversation leads from their homes, to their youth, their young adulthood and direction of their careers, to what exactly brought the, and, finally, to the most personal aspects of their interests and goals for life. Each word relaxes her more than the few sips of the now neglected drink and the constant reminder that their hands are linked boosts her courage as she begins to shift the conversation towards her goal.

  
“Do you have a shift tomorrow?” She says, trying to seem merely curious so as not to get her hopes up.

  
“Nah,” he responds, chuckling lightly. “Been planning to catch up on some vids. Don’t want anyone spoiling it for me, you know?”

  
She’s always known him as a movie and television buff. It’s enduring and something they always seemed to occupy themselves talking about during work. His almost perfect memory of vids and trivia never ceased to amaze her and gave her a deeper look into many movies that were nothing more than entertainment to her.

  
It’s because of his enthusiasm that she often finds herself sitting down in front of the newest shows in effort to have full knowledge of it when they meet the next morning. That, and the fact that nearly every show or movie he’s recommended to her is actually really damn good.

  
Running her free fingers around the rim of her glass, she takes the leap. “I need to catch up, too. Would you like to watch them together? Maybe have a binge?”

  
He laughs, the sound easing the tension in her shoulders and relaxing her like putty in his hands. Lilihierax smiles and purrs deeply, saying, “I’d _really_ like that.” His vocals take on a chirping sound as his gaze drifts into space and his free hand gesticulates. “We can go to my place, order delivery, and catch you up on all the classics. Then we get into the recent movies I haven’t seen - maybe some of the really good ones I have. Man, we won’t get any sleep.”

  
She smiles at the way his voice takes on a soothing quality like it always does when he’s wrapped up in something he loves. Oh, how she wishes he’d talk about her like that. Even more, she’d give all of Noveria to hear that raspy voice whispering into her ear, his heavy accent curling her toes.

  
It isn’t until she hears a low, rumbling chuckle that feels like cool water trickling over the smooth rocks of a river, pulls her from her thoughts and pulls her attention to his - is that… - _knowing_ smile. Her cheeks flush as she gapes a bit at loss of excuse for her distraction. Surely he wouldn’t believe she was a bit tipsy because she’s still holding her first drink, and half full to boot. All she can say is a simple, “I’m sorry. I was lost for a moment there…”

  
She clears her throat in effort to make him believe that was all she could say. It wasn’t until then that she realized his may take her the wrong way, that she was bored and quickly has to fix that. What can she say? She frantically searches her mind before admitting defeat and adding, “Hearing you so happy is so soothing I… lose myself.”

  
He is quiet as he considers that, head just slightly tilted and an audible hum rolling in his throat. She bites her lip and is just about to backtrack again and grasp at straws for a better explanation before he says, “Say. How about we start our movie binge tonight?”

  
Damn him, he grins when her mouth falls open and throat dries out instantly. He wants to start tonight? At his place? With _her_? And he’s loving every second of yanking the rug from under her feet every time she seems to catching her footing in her awkwardness. Without saying a word, she nods and returns his own expression with a hopeful smile, hoping her silent plea in her head doesn’t show in her eyes.

  
“I’d… really like that.” Her voice is soft, tender, and she worries he can hear the _something else_ in there. Maybe he does, because he gives her hand a squeeze before releasing and standing up.

  
“Come on. We can walk, if you’re okay with that.”

  
“You kidding? I’m so tired of shuttles. It always feels like work,” she says with a chuckle and timidly reclaims his hand. He gives it a look with a slight raise to his brow plate, but doesn’t withdraw. In fact, she can almost swear he shifts to press their palms closer as they walk down the halls and towards the crew apartments.


	2. Chapter 2

Artemis gave up trying to focus on the vids they were watching the moment he had gently pulled her to his side and draped an arm over her shoulders about - hell, she doesn’t even remember how many episodes of some law drama show ago.  Instead, she focuses on the way his blunted talons have taken to carding aimlessly through her hair ever since she -  _ just so happened, without any forethought whatsoever.  Nope, none _ \- removed the rubber band and let it flow loose over her shoulder.  If her drifting attentions are to be trusted, then even he has lost all interest in their entertainment.  That, or he often watches television with that constant, thrumming - and entirely  _ too _ distracting - purr.

Her traitorous body  _ has  _ to be revealing just how much she loves that sounds, craves it to continue, and wishes to hear it and only it instead of the damn vid screen.  Hell, she really hopes the rumors about turian senses of smell are exaggerated or she’s going to have to come up with a really good excuse for why the room suddenly smells less like take out noodles and more like an aroused human female.  At least, she thinks, she’s not yet to the point of squirming in her pants from anticipation and need.   _ That  _ will be an awfully awkward explanation to give.

Would she have the speed to escape the apartment and building before he asks?  Because something tells her that ‘I have to pee’ won’t be a good enough excuse to run to the bathroom and try to clean off with cold water from the sink.  

She just really doesn’t want to mess this up.  Her intentions or not, her friendship with him means so much more than wanting something else that he isn’t wanting to give.  Question is, can she stop calm herself down enough to enjoy what he  _ will  _ give her or is she about to ruin everything with the building fluttering in her lower belly?

“Are you alright?”  His voice snaps her out of her thoughts with a dumbfounded ‘huh?’ but he doesn’t dwell on her obvious lack of attention.  Instead, he smiles down to her and leans closer.  She thinks it’s just so he can be heard better, but when he speaks again, her mind reels at uncalled-for wishes.  “Would you rather do something else?”

_ Yes, please!   _

_ That’s not helping…  _

“Uh…”  It’s all she can say as her eyes lock onto his honey-golden eyes and she smiles with a giddy tenderness.  God, what she’d do to this man.   _ Wait… that isn’t helping either, Artemis.  Think about something else!   _ “Sorry?”  She clears her throat and leans forward to get a drink from her soda, trying again.  “Sorry, Li.  I guess I’m just sleepy.”  

She cringes inwardly at the fact that he could take that as she wants to leave him, but all she really wants is to lay in his arms and snuggle up to see just how warm a turian can be when bundled up together under thick blankets.  Could they stave away the ever present chill of Noveria together?  

_ Really need to stop thinking about that _ , she reprimands once again before sitting back again.  She’s shocked to feel his arm still there, even moving lower to rest on her shoulders, and instantly shoots up to spin and gaze at the welcome limb.  Her eyes widen and snap between his arm and his face, lips dropping when she recognizes the slight frown on his features.

“Ah.  I’m sorry, Artemis,” he says as he moves his arm from her side of the couch and she jumps, hands snatching the limb from air and pushing it back in place where it  _ belongs _ .

“Nono.  Don’t… don’t move, okay?”  She smiles and moves to sit back, shifting just enough to press her back against his side.  Leaning against him, she wiggles to give into her need to snuggle and hopes he understands.

She knows he does when his arm lowers to hold her close and his second voice deepens to a rolling thrum.  Artemis fights her shiver and clenches her abdominal muscles against the ache for him.  She’s a grown ass woman and her body is reacting like a damn teenager high on hormones and high school crushes, and, while that can be a unique experience to share again after so long without that sort of spark, she can’t be sure he even feels the same.  How does one even tell when a turian is interested?  And, damn, if she could just understand turian languages and body signs.

“Are you cold?”  Realizing she must have actually shivered, she closes her eyes in frustration and shakes her head.  She doesn’t stop him when he starts to run his hands over her arms, though, at that would just be torturing herself.  She’s not  _ that  _ big a saint.  “I could get a blanket.”

He voice is lower and it isn’t until she stops focusing on her touch and starts trying to force her ears to listen again when she realizes something.  That rumbling purr is clearer and louder.  Opening her eyes, she glances over and up to see him -  _ right there _ \- leaning closer to her with a warm smile.  She gasps softly and feels her skin heat up from cheeks to, well,  _ other  _ places.

Chuckling - the sound thick and gravely with something she can’t place - Lilihierax looks into her eyes before pressing his forehead to hers and rubbing softly.  It’s a sweet gesture, but not really one she knows what to do with, so she simply presses back before tilting her head, moving forward, and placing her lips to his.  Despite her thought that turians wouldn’t know this, he seems to know  _ exactly _ what to do and opens his mouth plates to lick her lips.  

Another girlish gasp leaves her lips and gives him the opening he needs to slide his rough tongue in to flood her mouth with the earthy sweetness of his taste.  Her hands move on their own as her mind completely misfires from the sensation of his tongue against hers, between her lips, and the minute cracks of his plates finally beneath her fingertips.  Out of all the times she’s caught herself staring at him from across the garage as he works, she’s never imagined to actually be able to be this close, to have this much of him in her figurative and literal hands.

If she thought she couldn’t be any more overwhelmed by him, she’s sorely wrong when she jumps at the pressure of a hand on her knee.  She makes a choked sound between yelp and moan and nearly bites his tongue as she stares down at his three fingered hand slowly moving inch by inch up her thigh before stopping midway to indecency.  

_ Please don’t stop _ .  He huffs an amused, thick laugh and her mouth drops. Jesus, now she can’t keep her thoughts quiet.  She can’t really backtrack now, not when she truly wants this to continue, but shouldn’t she have come up with something much more… seductive?  Who is she really kidding?  She was never good at ‘seduction’.  Or, apparently, sex despite not necessarily being a virgin or that much of a prude. 

So why is Li so different?

His hand smooths higher along her thigh and her mind quickly decides  _ No more thinking!   _ It’s a good decision, she quickly agrees, as Li ducks against her neck and starts to nibble gently and a single finger caresses her through the seam of her pants.  She moans shamelessly loud and arches into him, thankful he’s behind her else she’d be half sprawled on the floor in a pile of jelly.   _ God, if just his touch over my pants can do this… _

His voice shifts to a growl as he runs his tongue along her rapid pulse and she gasps, bucking for his hand.  She whimpers when he uses both of his fingers to rub her through her pants and Artemis feels herself growing slicker.  Li groans softly against her ear and she know understands that  _ he’s been able to smell her this entire time _ .  Given time - and the lack of his hand on her crotch - and she’s bound to be embarrassed, but, right now, all she can think about is his hand, his mouth, his  _ voice _ , as he works her.  

Turning her head to him, she tries to kiss him but only manages to find his mandible.  It’s good enough for her as she pulls the prongs into her lips and flicks her tongue against them.  He emits a moan and ducks his chin to slide his tongue into her mouth.  The kiss is only for a moment before he completely pulls away with a, “Wait.”

Artemis feels as cold as she would standing in the garage bare ass naked the moment he leans towards the side table, but before she can gather herself up to soothe the ache of his absence, he is back to her.  She frowns in confusion as he opens a small package of small slivers of what looks like a milky rubber.  When their eyes meet again, she lifts her brows in question and he smiles.  

“I don’t want to hurt you,” he explains as he slides one onto each talon on his left hand.  “These are silicon caps for my talons.”  Smirking, he runs the now-sheathed talons against her arm to show the smooth glide.  “Now come here,” he purrs before pulling her back into their previous position.

Her whole body coils up in anticipation and the knowledge of what he plans.  Arching into him, she whine when he slides his and under the bottom of her shirt to stroke her belly.  She reaches up to pull his head to her and starts kissing him along his smiling mandibles and throat, wanting him to make him understand just how good she knows, without doubt, he’ll make her feel.  He’s always been a master at knowing what she wants and needs at work that it can’t possibly be any different here, can it?

It’s almost instantly that she finds out as he slides his hand into the waistband of her pants and strokes a single, long finger against her wet lips.  She groans loud and clenches her eyes in effort to still her hips even though they beg to move, to feel more of him.  As if reading her very mind, Li circles a finger around her lips and dips in to stroke over her clit.  She nearly cries out from the sensation and her legs clamp onto his hand, but he continues to move, circling her pulsing nub before lowering and probing her entrance.

“Please,” she whispers against his cracked plates and he growls, slipping his tongue out as his finger glides into her.  She sobs in relief against his mouth and sucks at his tongue as he pulls his finger back from her slickness at an angle that make him rub against her front wall.  

Catching onto her resulting jolt in response, he slides back into her and crooks his finger to thrust against that spot repeatedly.  Artemis’ breath hitches and she pants against his mouth, tongue distractedly lapping at his much more focused on driving her insane one.  His voice is deep and guttural as he growls and moans against her, and he sends stars exploding into her vision when he adds yet another sensation to the mix when he drops his palm to rub her throbbing clit as his finger works. 

They have to break for her to suck in gulps of air and he takes the opening to start licking and nibble her neck with gently nips of his plates.  Her words are nothing but gibberish as he shifts from rubbing her inner walls, to spreading her fluids over her lips and circling her clit, to entering her once more.  It’s all the more intense knowing  _ who _ is turning her into putty in his hands and  _ whose  _ voice is pouring such intense arousal into her skin and ears from his groans and rumbles.

“Show me…” he says, barely audible above his vocals, and rubs his face into the crook of her neck and shoulder.  Her walls clench at the sound and she teeters on the edge of  _ just  _ enough to fall over.  “Show me how good it feels.”

“Li… Li…”  She pants, reaching for his face in a desperate need to see him that she can’t begin to describe.  “Li… Li...hier...ax…”

Even in this heightened state between them, she can see him smile and press his forehead to hers again in what  _ has  _ to be something special.  It’s soon becoming the same for her as, with a sharp jerk of his wrist, she tumbles over, crying out a breathless gasp as she spasms around his fingers.  She knows her orgasm is going to make her pants unwearable tonight, but she doesn’t care.  If she has to, she’ll walk the halls naked if it only meant she could remember this night forever.  

Her world stops when he purrs and drops his mouth to her ear.  “How about we take this to the bedroom?”


	3. Chapter 3

Out of nerves, Artemis grasped at any chance to catch her breath, calm her speeding heart, and control her livewire nerves before she made a fool of herself in the guise of requesting they remove their own clothes. ‘Less fumbling with crazy clasps, buttons, and zippers,’ she had said, coming up with the first excuse off the top of her head when, in all actuality, she was more than a bit anxious of his reaction when they were finally bare before each other.

  
She shamelessly admits - _inwardly_ \- that she has done her own perusals into turian ‘anatomy’, so she has at least an idea of what to expect, albeit much less disproportional than what Fornax claims male turians are packing beneath their plates. Lilihierax, however? She has no idea what grand ideas media has filled his head with, but she knows he’s in for a surprise. What with her small - almost flat - breasts, lack of any curves to speak of, and taller than average height for a human female. Before tonight, her appearance was nothing more than what she looked like as she never saw herself in the body of another. She wasn’t ‘too skinny’, ‘flat chested’, or ‘boyish’ as so many said because, as she saw it, she was just herself, just Artemis. What about what Li’s seen, however? If he - dare she say it - did his own exploring into the world of interspecies pornography, she’s damn sure he never found a woman like her. She’s suddenly very aware of all the little differences.

  
_Well, now or never. Get ready for disappointment._

  
Taking in a long breath, she closes her eyes and turns to face him when she hears the soft shuffle of his clothing hitting the floor. Like prying them open, her lids lift ever so slowly until she's looking directly into his eyes with an admission that what lies behind her shy hands - one crossed over her chest and the other between her legs - is the best she can offer.

  
Instead of finding confusion or the obvious realization of a let down, Artemis finds only a warm smile and low thrumming coming from the man she’s carried a torch for longer than she can remember. He comes to her and gently guides his hands from her shoulders down, easing her hands from their steeled grip on her most intimate and - to her - embarrassing areas. Her mind panics and demands she at least present a minute amount of struggle against being revealed, against her security being peeled away, but that sound of his vocals sends sparks of electricity down her spine to collect in a warm pool of arousal.

  
The buzzing of her previous orgasm builds again into need and she sighs against him. His touch no longer stays at her arms and hands, instead moving up her shoulders to caress her neck and collar bones. By his earlier actions stringing pleasure from her body, she feels he knows more about her body than he’s letting on - just as much as she is damn sure to know more than the average human woman about turian male erogenous zones - but it’s almost too devious of him to imagine. The mere thought of Li looking up pornography with human women in order to know how to touch one, even if it’s realistically not her, makes her close her eyes as need flows through her and adding to the ever growing moisture between her thighs.

  
“Li,” she whispers as he steps closer to purr against her jaw, his plated chest pressing against her own. Where she thought it’d bring pain, the contact only spreads a sense of comfort and strength that his slim, long limbs belie.

  
She loops her arms around his neck and inside the rim of his cowl as she steps closer, pressing their hips together to unconsciously seek out any kind of friction or intimate contact. Lilihierax groans softly and she starts to feel a shifting - like relaxing a flexed and taut muscle - against their flush hips. She knows, from her ‘research’, what's happening, but the idea still surprises her and she moans softly, turning her head to kiss him.

  
Warm hands finally gain enough assurance of her acquiescence and Li moves to caress her breasts, thumbing her nipples. It’s in those knowledgeable, yet inexperienced, actions that she’s proven right about his own personal forms of entertainment and she decides to show that she’s learned and searches under his fringe for the supposed sweet spot. In her determination, she almost forgets what he’s doing to her - something her body is certainly not ignoring - and only gasps when he pinches one hardened nipple as if in reprimand.

  
She gets him back, however, when she finds a spot directly under his fringe where the plates are smoother and have more give than the majority of his body. Li practically moans and presses his head back against her fingers, and it’s all she needs to feel him release down below. A wet and hot weight slides against her, pressing insistently against her thighs as if with a mind of its own. The thought of that length pressing into her, shaping her to him, pulls a needy whine from her lips and she bites them to silence herself.

  
“You don't need to be quiet.” There's humor and a warmness in his voice as he lifts his mouth to press against her withdrawn lips. His tongue laves hers and he growls when her hands slide from his neck to waist and she opens her mouth to him.

  
Tongues dancing, Li drops his hands to her waist and shifts his weight in silent heads up of his plans. Still, the warning does nothing to tamp down her yelp of surprise as he hefts her up. Arms snapping around his neck and legs around his waist, Artemis chuckles at his proud smirk and is too far gone to think of any sort of revenge. Instead, she lets him carry her wherever he pleases as she kissing and sucks along the warm hide of his neck to elicit another growling groan from his plated lips.

  
Crawling onto the bed with her in his arms, Li ducks his head to trace his tongue along her nipples - left before the right. She gasps and pushes against his shoulders, unable to take more of these torturous teasing. “Please… please.”

  
Lilihierax’s expression is full of a tenderness she knows so well from their talks together, laughing and trying to outdo the other with their prospective lunches or morning choices of energy. It’s just so Li that she can’t imagine him any other way, even in these moments as he licks and nibbles up her body before finally settling between her spread legs. His erection is hot with a very alien - yet not unpleasant - heat, and slick with a fluid much like her arousal running down the crease of her thighs and butt cheeks to soak the bed beneath.

  
“Let me know if I hurt you.” His whisper is rough, overcome by the lust in his harmonics and subtle grinding of his cock against her curls. Artemis moans at the friction against her clit and nods, cupping the back of his head to both rub that special spot and drag him down into a sloppy, demanding kiss.

  
It’s all he needs to know she wants him - _needs_ him - with a burning passion that’s been building for ages. Growling, Li breaks contact with her long enough to reach down and line himself up. With one look in her eyes, he draws and holds her attention as he slowly pushes into her. The sweet slide of wetness against wetness makes it easier to take his size and alien shape, but it doesn’t take from the immediate burst of fireworks that fires off from their growing connection into her belly. More than the psychical pleasure, his never breaking gaze pulls her in and holds her entrapped and unwilling to let him pull away from her.

  
As her legs wrap around his waist to hold him flush to her body, her hips unconsciously grind to him and she moans shamelessly as the movement causes his length to rub in small thrusts against her walls. She lost in the sensations, in his eyes, and only comes back when she hears his groaning chuckle and feels his warm hand against her cheek.

  
“It’ll feel a lot better if you let me.”

  
She huffs a weak laugh, but relaxes his legs with the touch of his hand shifting to her thigh. “I don’t think my heart can take it.”

  
“ _Your_ heart?” He chuckles and strokes her thigh, slowly withdrawing to test her readiness. “I’m older than you, Artemis, and I’m doing fine.”

  
“Just ‘fine’?” Her indecision of whether to feign hurt or smirk quickly dissipates with a single hard thrust from her partner. She gasps and can’t find reason to care about the chuckle that breaks through his heavy purring because she knows he’s quickly losing all chance of continuing this conversation with the glorious things he’s doing to and within her. “Fuck… Li…”

  
He merely hums in agreement as he pulls back faster and thrusts in harder, building a speed that has both panting and their sounds of pleasure turning into fast groans or determined grunts. Never, in all her examinations of dirty Fornax issues, did she ever have the imagination to actually come close to how his ridged, tapered length would feel as he slides against her and his slightly rounded head pops in and out of her. She’s climbing fast and, still, he moves ever faster, apparently spurred on by the wet noises of their joining or possibly the smells they’re creating.

  
Strangely enough, what undoes her is the way his mouth opens and tongue flicks out like some sort of reptile tasting the air. Truth be told, it should freak her out, cement the reality that they are so alien to the other, but it’s Lilihierax, just his way during sex, and she can’t find any reason to complain, judge, or be turned off. Instead, she whines as her back arches and her muscles tense and constrict.

  
He ducks his head into her neck and runs that rough tongue against her throat, and it’s all she needs to topple over that edge, crying out for anyone to hear close enough to hear through the apartment walls. The explosion of pleasure is too much and she can’t do anything of conscious thought, but her body’s oversensitive jerks against him are enough to pull him down with her to drown in ecstasy.

  
He cums with a loud roar of crashing stones against her sweaty skin, thrusting uncontrollably into her as he stiffens and twitches with each spurt of his seed. Artemis feels the heat of his release and moans under her breath, the feeling like a balm over her sensitive post-orgasmic walls. Li stays within her for a few moments more, perhaps having a longer orgasm than his human counterparts, before finally withdrawing and rolling to lay beside her.

  
They both gasp for hot breaths of air, grinning stupidly at each other as their hearts slowly come to a more controlled pace. Reaching for her, Li opens himself to her and she instantly takes the invite to slide against his heated body. He rumbles and nuzzles her sweat chilled temple, rubbing her back before speaking.

  
“I think I have some leave available, if you want to stay.”

  
“I…” She’s too exhausted for embarrassment or the awkwardness Li always seems to bring out in her, but she isn't too far gone to miss that unsaid question. Smiling, she lifts her head and kisses him as his answer.


End file.
